Punjab PSEB Sr. Sec. NSQF Media (Roto Artist) flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Rotoscoping

The process of isolating a subject from a plate by drawing and animating mattes frame by frame, used when keying is impossible or has failed.

Alpha channel

A fourth image channel storing per-pixel opacity, where white is fully opaque, black fully transparent and grey partial, used to composite elements over backgrounds.

Premultiplied alpha

An image state where RGB values have already been multiplied by alpha; it must be unpremultiplied before colour correction to avoid dark edge fringing.

Bézier handles

Control handles attached to spline anchor points; handle angle sets tangent direction and handle length sets curvature, together defining the shape of the curve.

Hold-out matte

A garbage matte that hides unwanted plate regions such as rigs, tracking markers or crew so that CG or clean elements can replace them.

Planar tracking

A tracking method that solves translation, rotation and scale from a flat surface region, giving more information than a single-point track.

Grain matching

The final compositing step of adding noise whose size and amplitude match the plate, preventing a clean element from looking pasted onto a grainy image.

OpenEXR format

A lossless image format supporting 16- and 32-bit float data, multiple render passes and alpha, widely used as the VFX interchange standard.

Log colour encoding

A flat-contrast encoding such as LogC or S-Log that stores wide dynamic range; it must be converted to display space before judging colour visually.

Shot versioning

Incrementing a shot's version number on every submission, for example v001 to v002, so approved and working files are never overwritten.

Over operator

The standard composite formula where the result equals foreground plus background multiplied by one minus foreground alpha.

Edge chattering

Frame-to-frame wobble of a roto matte edge, usually caused by inconsistent keys, fixed by smoothing animation or re-tracking rather than adding feather.

Clean plate

A frame or patch of the plate with unwanted objects removed, used to paint out markers, rigs or crew and to fill holes behind moving subjects.

Bit depth

The number of levels per colour channel: 8-bit gives 256, 10-bit 1024, 12-bit 4096 and 16-bit 65536, with higher depth reducing banding.

Aspect ratio

The ratio of image width to height, such as 16:9 equal to 1.778, 4:3 equal to 1.333, and 2.39:1 for anamorphic widescreen.

Motion blur matte

A matte extended to cover the full blur extent of a moving subject, preventing edge popping when the element is composited over a background.

Light wrap

A compositing effect that bleeds background light onto an element's edge, applied after colour matching to help the element sit naturally in the plate.

Solve error

The measured residual in pixels of a tracking solution; low error on a short track can still drift over a full shot.

Dailies review

A scheduled screening of work in progress where supervisors give notes logged with shot and frame numbers for later verification.

Delivery specification

The client-defined set of output requirements including resolution, codec, bit depth, alpha handling and colour space for final handoff.

20-20-20 rule

An eye-strain prevention rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds to relax the focusing muscle.

PASS extinguisher sequence

The fire extinguisher procedure: Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle and Sweep side to side.

E-waste handling

Disposal of monitors, batteries and circuit boards through authorised recyclers rather than general municipal waste, to prevent toxic contamination.

NDA in VFX

A non-disclosure agreement barring an artist from sharing unreleased client footage or frames publicly without written permission.

Actionable review note

Feedback that names the shot, frame range and expected result, allowing the artist to verify the fix objectively rather than guess intent.

Showreel

A short portfolio video of an artist's best shots, used by recruiters to judge edge quality, matte consistency and tracking stability.

NSQF

India's National Skills Qualifications Framework, which defines competency levels for vocational courses including media and entertainment job roles.

VFX pipeline order

The standard sequence: plate ingest, tracking, roto and paint, keying, CG render, compositing, colour grade and delivery.

Freelance day rate

A quoted charge per working day covering scope, revision limit and payment terms; unlimited revisions makes the rate unprofitable.

Two-factor authentication

A login method requiring a second verification step beyond the password, protecting client footage and studio accounts from unauthorised access.

Matchmove

The task of solving camera or object motion from a plate so that CG elements align with live-action footage throughout the shot.

Linear colour space

A scene-referred space where values are proportional to light intensity, required for correct compositing maths such as blur and blending.